What do Muhammad Ali, Drake, Logan Paul and Lee Harvey Oswald have in common?
One way or another, shape or form, the remarkable quartet found themselves in the orbit of collectibles extraordinaire Ken Goldin. If you happen to not have heard the name yet, that will soon change.
Goldin is the star of Netflix’s upcoming docuseries King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch – comes out Friday – which follows the lifelong collector of jet setters as he consigns and competes for the rarest and most beautiful memorabilia while meeting some of the sports world’s most prominent people.
Mike Tyson, Logan Paul and Drake are some of the stars seen alongside Goldin in the six 30-minute unscripted episodes where Goldin is tried out for three months.
Iron Mike is one of Goldin’s most acclaimed celebrities he’s met during his illustrious collectibles auction career, and he fondly told Dailymail.com of a time when Tyson “fired” one of his employees.
Ken Goldin (C) is the star of the series, co-produced by Peyton Manning & Brent Montgomery
The extraordinary collectibles spent time opening packs of rare sports cards featuring Drake
“He was amazing and very smart,” Goldin said of his time with Tyson. ‘He messed around with my employees — he literally snuck up behind one of them [while he was] watch a video and [Tyson] goes “Oh, yeah, I’ve seen that before. I love watching that show, by the way, you’re fired!”‘
Drake appears in the first episode with Goldin traveling to Toronto at the last minute, leaving behind an upcoming business trip to Las Vegas and instead hiring a private jet to arrive at The Six. The rapper, of course, was waiting for him at a nightclub, for a virtual cameo from one of Will Smith’s sons on the night of his father’s most infamous moment.
“We met him at a nightclub and they gave us the whole downstairs — it was actually the night of the Oscars when Will Smith punched Chris Rock,” Goldin said.
“So I was there when Will Smith’s son texted Drake after it happened. I spent 45 minutes talking to Drake and his entourage about collectibles. He’s just such a cool guy. We’ve been opening cards until two o’clock in the morning.’
His relationship with Paul goes way beyond the Netflix series – widely regarded as something of a sports version of Pawn Stars. The series has Peyton Manning as an executive producer, alongside Brent Montgomery – who is the creator of the beloved History Channel show, alongside Only, American Restoration And Count cards.
“I love Peyton. As you know, he is very funny. He’s great to work with,” Goldin said of the famed quarterback turned production star.
“He’s self-controlled and he’s obviously a very aggressive businessman. He is also competitive like me, he wants to win.’
Manning also has a role on the show, in addition to his company Omaha Productions’ off-screen role
Mike Tyson appears in the Netflix series, showing Goldin a rare item from his illustrious career
Paul and Goldin text buddies, their relationship and shared passions belying the huge age difference.
“Logan is someone I literally text with every week” he’s a businessman and he loves what I’ve built with this company with no money… obviously that’s something he does and we can really relate that way too Goldin said of Paul.
‘He’s a passionate collector, he could really empathize with people who are collectors. He’s a die-hard Pokémon collector, so he understands the chase. He gets upset when he opens a box of cards and doesn’t find any good cards.”
While Goldin may have been on the ground floor of a Toronto nightclub closed off exclusively to him and Drake, no celebrity has brought him more awe than the Yankees’ great Joltin’ Joe Di Maggio.
“The guy played with Lou Gehrig, you know, the 56-game hitting streak, he’s going to retire and marry Marilyn Monroe — arguably the most famous actress of all time — that was the guy I probably first stood in awe of.” had I met.’
Selling items can be Goldin’s golden goose, though he occasionally buys some of the rarer pieces for his own collection.
Lionel Messi, Cristian Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Serena Williams all have worn items in his collection. Then there’s the small matter of MLB memorabilia.
“I got a bat from every member of the 500 (home run) Club, including a bat used by Babe Ruth [from] in 1927, the 60-home run season,” Goldin revealed.
“I have the highest-rated copy ever of the first Avengers number one comic book ever. The first appearance of Spider-Man, The Amazing Fantasy 15, X Men number one, you know, the first appearance in the store, the first appearance of Ironman… that sort of thing.”
As for the company itself, some pieces of global history have made their way into the auction empire – two of which live long in the memory of generations past and present.
“We sold the real pair of handcuffs Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested with after he shot President Kennedy [and] the autographed Double Fantasy album that John Lennon drew and gave to Mark David Chapman before he was killed.
“I owned the actual documents signed in 1947 by Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson who signed him to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball. That is perhaps the most historical item I have ever been associated with.’
Logan Paul, who texts Goldin every week, unwrapped Pokémon cards with his mentor
Goldin was joined by celebrities including Jimmy Kimmel at the West Hollywood premiere
Goldin traveled in style to visit Drake in Toronto and chartered a private jet to open cards together
Goldin has sold the most valuable MLB and NBA rookie cards, and the most expensive NBA jersey in history, and while it may seem from the outside that there is an innate gift that propels him to the top of the collecting world, he revealed that there are few science to the process.
“They come to me for one reason, but they want as much money as possible for the items they want to sell,” he said. ‘That is it! Not because I’m their best friend in the world, not because I’m the funniest man in the world, no.’
Goldin may not be those things, but upon the series’ release on Friday, the world will see him for what he and some of his famous acquaintances are; lovers of moments of time to which they can be transported in the form of collectibles.
King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch premieres Friday, April 28 on Netflix.